Scotch: The Perfect Alternative to Motorcycles

[TimP]

Ah, Scotch!

What else is there to say? Highland, Islay, those other two... who cares? It's all good. Last year at Christmas time I treated myself to an outrageously priced Caol Ilay (if memory serves) which was very, very delightful, but, to be honest, I'll gladly down anything (although I tend to find smoke-in-a-bottle Laphroaig a bit, um, harder to swallow).

If I can't ride, I'll have a scotch. Conversely, if I have a scotch, I can't ride.

Give and take. That's what life is all about.

Got a story to tell about scotch? Please do...

(a motorcycle connection is not absolutely required, but it could be fun.)

[John]

"To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you and to hear the lamentations of the women."

My answer? Scotch & bikes - preferably indulged with somebody that appreciates both. I never point a bike at a far horizon without something Scottish in a flask for when the day is run & the sun has won. :) AND I am in the whiskey capital of the the New World - I shit you not. Just check out Alcool NB Liquor website (http://www.nbliquor.com/documents/Current_Price_List.pdf) to see the prices here if you doubt me. Cheaper than most places in Scotland and has the rest of our continent beat all to hell. The tax structure on high-end spirits is very favourable here such that my scotch collection has me amazed.

But I drink the stuff. Not interested in it collecting dust. The cask has done it's job and the bottle does nothing further. I was speaking with Glenfiddich's brand ambassador Ian Millar this past winter and he espoused the same thoughts. He has run many distilleries in his successful career & upon leaving each one was presented with a "Manager's Dram" which is unique & priceless. We talked about that for a moment or two and at the end he said something to the effect, it's all just whiskey after all. And he drank them all. Don't blame him one bit. The Whiskey Tasting Society of which I am on the executive (http://www.whiskynb.ca/wts) just recently opened & drank a bottle of 1959 Glenlivet. We were told that the worldwide price of the stuff went up because we opened a bottle. Bloody silliness.

Like you, I too enjoy Island whiskies the best. I must have nineteen or twenty bottles of island whiskies. And it's spelled 'Caol Ila' and I need a bottle of that stuff. But always remember, there are no bad whiskies; some are just better than others...! Now I'm off to try a new bottle of Opimian Society scotch that I scored yesterday for sixty dollars. Can't get the stuff over here. T'is produced by Sir Ian Noble (of the recent Gaelic resurgence fame) & it's supposed to be really good & a blend, to boot.

Yeah, I like scotch. :o

John.

[Ivor biggin]

[QUOTE=TimP;

Got a story to tell about scotch? Please do...[/QUOTE]

In the mid 90s we moved to Manitouwadge in Northwest Ontario and lived there for seven very happy years. My wife and I made many friends in the community but one chap, an exiled Newfie, became a life long best friend. I even had the honor of being the best man at his wedding. I`m sorry to say though that Clem, salt of the Earth that he is, has a serious character fault. He doesn`t like bikes. Manitouwadge was not a motorcycle haven, one road in then East or West on hwy 17 and three OPP detachments within 100km, so this deficiency in his make up was not a big problem.
Clem had an old half ton and I had a Jeep and we spent most of our Saturday afternoons driving on the bush roads North of town. We could be found most Saturdays on our favorite trail, four beer road, with the dogs in tow heading for some lake or other to let the dogs swim and to generally waste time. Four Beer road was actually called Four Bear road but we renamed it after discovering that it took four beers to drive in and out again. Hence a road with two names.
One Fall afternoon Clem and I were driving the dogs down to the lake when came to a hunting camp set up by three hunters so we stopped to say hello to the guys and check out how their hunt was going. Just by chance, but highly relevant none the less to this tale is that the three of them were, like my chum, Newfies. I should tell you now that when we arrived at the camp one of the guys was playing a guitar, another a squeeze box and the third was dancing on an old door that was lying on the ground. I kid you not and all of them singing their heads off. They welcomed us like long lost pals and soon we were sharing beers and chatting as is if we had known each other for years. After a few beer one of the Newfs asked if we liked Scotch and ,of course, both Clem and I said yes we do. So he went into his trailer and brings out a 40 of J&B with about four inches left in the bottom and in the plastic cups he provided we drank their health.
We were just about to leave in the Jeep when Buddy pushes the bottle of scotch through the window and said here have a drink for the road home. He then added the line which I will never forget and what prompted me to tell this drawn out tale. " I bought it yesterday but I don`ts like the taste".
We were less than a mile down the trail when we started laughing but Clem said it first, even though the same thought had crossed my mind, only four inches left, good job he didn`t like it. From that day to this J&B, a nice blend by the way, has been Newfie Scotch to me.
IB.